Fire Damage

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT FIRE DAMAGE

A structure fire in Costa Mesa caused $500,000 in damages to two condominiums and sent one victim to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation Monday, fire officials said. A mother and her three children, including an infant, were displaced and provided temporary shelter and supplies by the American Red Cross of Orange County, communications director Shelly Parsons said. About 40 Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Fountain Valley firefighters contained the fire at 3:35 a.m., 47 minutes after they arrived at 2172 Biscayne Springs.

Those interested in getting training from Newport Beach to handle disasters can register for the next round of classes, which start in January. Classes for the Community Emergency Response Team are available to anyone who works, lives or attends school in the area, officials said. Volunteers are trained over several weeks to become a certified disaster worker, and are prepared to assist local emergency crews in the event of a large-scale natural catastrophe that overwhelms firefighters, paramedics and other city crews.

Paul Davis Emergency Services has expanded with the opening of a franchise in the city, the company announced Friday. The new facility at 2701 Harbor Blvd., Ste. E-2-8 will offer services in water and fire damage, mold removal and other emergency cleanup tasks. The company operates 24 hours a day and guarantees a response time of two hours or less, according to the company website. Owner Daryl Pierce is certified by The Clean Trust (formerly the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification)

BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Fire causes damage, but no one is injured A fire that broke out in a Newport Beach home Monday caused $50,000 in damages and appeared to have started where a fireplace vent met a wall, fire officials said. Firefighters from Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa and the Orange County Fire Authority put out the blaze about 90 minutes after it was reported. Before the home's residents left for dinner, they shut off the gas fireplace in the newly remodeled, two-story home at 2041 Port Provence in the Harbor View Homes Community.

Fire causes damage to home An attic fire caused $250,000 in damages to a Costa Mesa home on Tuesday afternoon and sent one dehydrated firefighter to the hospital, officials said Wednesday. Firefighters, responding to the call that came in at about 3:30 p.m. from the 2800 block of Serang Place, saw flames in the attic when they arrived. They were able to put out the fire by removing the metal roofing material and cooling the fire, officials said. There was only one resident inside the home, and he was able to run out, officials said.

Deirdre Newman UC IRVINE -- Automatic sprinklers would have helped control a fire that broke out in a chemistry lab at the university last summer, an independent report has found. The explosion and ensuing fire damaged two labs in Frederick Reines Hall on July 23. The investigation, which began a week after the accident, was conducted by experts in emergency response, operations, chemistry and industrial safety. While sprinklers were not required in the lab at the time the hall was built, investigators declared that sprinklers would have helped contain the fire.

Jeff Benson County investigators Monday identified the fatal victim of Sunday's small apartment fire on Maple Avenue, but the cause of the fire is still being investigated. An Orange County Coroner's official said Maria Carreno, 21, died shortly after neighbors extinguished the fire and pulled her from the bedroom of her Sundance West apartment Sunday afternoon. Costa Mesa firefighters arrived at the apartment at 3:58 p.m. Sunday to find the victim in full cardiac arrest and immediately began CPR and advanced life support treatment on her, Battalion Chief Christopher Riley said.

Fire officials investigating two Costa Mesa fires Monday The Costa Mesa Fire Department is investigating two separate fires that swept through Costa Mesa garages early Monday. Fire officials have not yet determined the causes of the two fires, which occurred on opposite sides of the city. Just after 12:45 a.m., firefighters responded to a garage fire in the 600 block of Brookview Way. An elderly couple was evacuated from the home, as well as neighbors, police Capt.

BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS $900,000 boat sinks in Newport Harbor Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol deputies pulled out a $900,000 boat that sunk in Newport Harbor early Tuesday morning, officials said. The 51-foot Tiara, named "Kelly Anne," was docked at a marine shipyard near Bayside and Harbor Island drives, Sgt. Ron Peoples said. "The owners had left it there for some work to be done," he said. "The owner of the shipyard came in Tuesday morning, and by then, the boat had already sank."